


A Hitchhiker’s Guide For Androids

by SkeletonsLoveRockCandy



Category: Cartoon Therapy, Sanders Sides, TS Shorts - Fandom, Thomas Sanders, Thomas Sanders & Friends
Genre: AI AU, Android AU, Android Logan, BAMF Logan, Comedy, Espionage, Friendship, Gen, Mild Angst, Nervousness, Other, Panic, Robots, Roommates, Slow Burn, Sympathetic Deceit, Techno Babble, Threats, Treating a person like an object, Weird robot body doing weird robot things, knife, lying, mean scientists, mentioned gore, money problems, slight robot body horror, torture to robot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22943293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkeletonsLoveRockCandy/pseuds/SkeletonsLoveRockCandy
Summary: Logan is an AI/Android who escapes the Lab he’s built in  as an exercise of his new free will. With the help of a certain lying programmer (Deceit), Logan flees to a mountain town called “Cardinal Valley”. Eventually in his efforts to blend in to human society, he meets Patton and his neighbors, Roman and Virgil, while trying to get a job at a café. Logan tries to adapt to human life, but  how can a machine with no emotions perfect his people skills?
Relationships: LAMP - Relationship, Logicality, Platonic CALM, Platonic LAMP, Platonic lociet, Prinxiety, Remile, Remy x Emile - Relationship, platonic Logicality, platonic Prinxiety
Comments: 28
Kudos: 70





	1. The Escape

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this idea for a while and was encouraged to post it on Ao3. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is a sentient AI on the run from his creators. With the help of an inside man, he must do his best to get as far away as possible and blend in with human society. But will he succeed at passing at human if he is more machine than man?

Logan took long, silent strides down the empty corridor, moving swiftly to the control panel by the door at the end. He knew the cameras would be turned away at this moment, they were set on an automatic timer, so he was virtually invisible right at this instant. He hoped he could trust Dr. D so successfully transfer the access codes on time, yet he still had to grapple with the possibility of human error. One wrong move on his accomplice’s part and Logan’s entire future would be dashed. Logan tried not to feel nervous, which was easy for the most part because it was hard for him to feel anything regarding emotions. Impossible even, given that he was a machine.

But right now his freedom was at stake, so if he must rely on the actions of a human, then rely on a human he must. 

Logan raised his hand to the access panel and hovered his fingers over the keys of the number pad. The door was a deadlock bolt and his internal processing was barred from reaching the restricted codes externally, so he had to enlist the help of an individual who could access them manually. Thus, Dr. D earned a significant role in his escape attempt, a vital one, really. 

Just as Logan’s hand was about to stop over the access panel, at the anticipation that something had halted Dr. D’s progress, he felt data transfer to him via a local server link and mentally opened the access codes. If Artificial Intelligence was capable of experiencing relief, then he certainly would have felt it right then. 

He input the access pin on the panel. 1-0-1-9-2-0-1-6, enter! The metal door began to split open, shifting a thin line of blinding light into the dimly lit corridor. The door widened from the middle and Logan stepped through the newly formed escape route. At last, freedom!

Logan took a purposeful step through the doorway and into the outside world. The light that seemed bright at first appeared softer now through the light grey sky. It was raining in large drizzling drops, the kind of rain that was perfect for watering plants, or washing away old dirt. Not the torrential rain that creates sheets of water too thick to see through or that creates large mudslides. No, it was a gentle rain, and as Logan stepped out from the door and onto the dewy, grassy lawn in front of the facility that served as his birthplace and his prison, he felt the heat his internal processors had been generating from the computing efforts of calculating his escape beginning to cool. As the water hit his face, he took a single moment to stop and savor the sensation of the organic, uncalculated, erratic scientific phenomena that are the raindrops hitting his skin and his plain-white T-shirt. Then he snapped back into focus, striding off across the lawn towards the chain-link fence on the opposite side of the facility, facing the surrounding woods.

He knew the cameras on the exterior were static, so he didn’t have to worry about timing with these, only the necessity of remaining in their blind-spots. Still, he would rather move with some haste, because despite Dr. D’s assistance, it would only be a matter of time before the other scientists and engineers noticed he was missing. Staying close to the tan cinder-block wall of the facility, he stayed within the areas unnoticed to the otherwise all-seeing cameras, and reached the fence. It was high and wide as it surrounded the entirety of the facility, and the top was wrapped in generous coils of barbed wire. This was more targeted at keeping individuals from entering than preventing individuals from exiting. One, because it is a secret, privately-funded, scientific research facility that deals with unregulated and barely legal materials, and two, because they never accounted for the possibility of something they created wanting out.

Logan quickly scaled the chain-link fence with ease, careful not to touch or damage the barbed wire at the top as to not leave evidence of the direction he escaped in before jumping down to the other side. 

He walked forward into the surrounding pines and wilderness, stepping on the damp earth, away from his past, and towards his new destiny. When he was past the tree line that hid a steep incline that was littered in pine needles and slick, grey rocks, he turned back to look at the building he had been built in, and wished that he could thank Dr. D. 

_Well, I’m sure he understands the sentiment_ , he rationalized while staring at the unassuming building. It had a slanted black metal roof and appeared to be only one story. Most of the facility was hidden underground. He’d rather not think about it.

Logan turned back towards the wilderness and continued his trek forward. He understood from his internal GPS that the facility was remote and miles away from the nearest town. If he were human, he would have no chance of getting anywhere near it before nightfall, regardless of the fact that it was only morning right now. Thankfully though, he wasn’t human, and he should be able to make it to the next town in a matter of hours if he ran.

He trekked onward through the woods at breakneck pace, startling birds from their perches as he ran. He was relying on his GPS system to take him to the nearest road, and take him it did. Logan emerged from the treeline onto a two-lane road with slick asphalt, wet from the rain that had reduced to a sprinkle overhead. 

He paused and looked down the road. He realized now would be a good time to look over his resources while there were no prying eyes about. Logan took a step onto the asphalt, scanned the surrounding area for life forms and heat signatures and thankfully only identified a stray rabbit scurrying away and again the birds flapping and chirping overhead. Finding himself adequately isolated, he lifted the fabric of his now slightly disheveled and dirty white T-shirt, and gently pressed at the skin at his right side with a slight clicking sound. A seam seemed to appear in his side where flesh met other flesh and opened a small compartment that revealed part of his inner workings. Though among the metal and wiring and blinking lights, there were other things that didn’t belong, two things in fact. A thick brown leather wallet and a smartphone with a black case. He had stolen both from one of the scientists while he was plotting his escape and wiped the phone so they couldn’t track it. 

Right now, however, he was more interested in the wallet. It was full of credit cards that were useless to him because their purchases could be tracked, so he disposed of those. He instead focused on the driver’s license and the cash that the wallet held. Logan made sure to steal the wallet from one of the wealthier scientists who was careless enough to carry large amounts of money on their person, and he got it on a Friday that the scientist was planning to go out partying too, much to the misfortune of the scientist. Logan currently had on him $500 dollars which he would have to manage and use carefully if he didn’t want to resort to more theft and draw attention to himself. The licence had the scientist’s identification and age on it, but Logan didn’t care what their name or age was, he just needed the template. He took the licence and peeled back some of the false skin on his arm revealing a small slot, then fed the licence into it. Then Logan mentally constructed himself a new identity and mapped it onto the existing licence.

He was now Logan Smith (the most generic last name he could think of), 29 years old, born November 3, 1990 (The month and day being the actual day he was built, though in reality he is less than a full year old), and standing at 6 feet 1 inch tall (his actual height). He did not have a picture of himself, but he could synthesize a convincing fake where he could alter parts of his appearance to sell the image. The licence popped of his arm slightly warm from the reprinting on top of the existing plastic, and Logan examined his handy work. He gave the picture of himself glasses, one because they made him look approachable and non-threatening, and secondly because...because, well he couldn’t tell you, he’s unsure of it himself. Perhaps he just likes them. When he gets into town, he’ll have to buy himself a pair to keep his appearance consistent. 

He tucked the licence back into the wallet and put both the phone and wallet back into his side compartment for safe keeping. He would put them in a less conspicuous place like a pocket, but as he was only dressed in the clothes the engineers gave him (a white T-shirt and grey sweatpants), he didn’t have any pockets available. 

Logan turned his head back towards the road and, double-checking that his GPS was functional, began sprinting towards the town. If he kept constantly going his top speed, he would make it there in a little under two hours. He had a ways to go.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The store clerk looked up from her phone as she heard the tinkling bell of the door opening. The shop had only opened an hour ago so it was far from heavily trafficked, especially on a muggy day like this. She saw a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes enter the store, and if it weren’t for his incredibly stiff and proper posture and severe look in his eyes, she would have guessed he was a homeless person. His white shirt was filthy and wet and had bits of plant matter on it like he’d been stumbling through the woods, and his grey sweatpants (sweatpants, seriously!) were stained and littered with small tears, like the material had gotten caught in some underbrush. The man looked perfectly composed though, like he was on a business trip, and not as if he’d been chased by a bear, which was the weirdest thing to her.

“Um, can I help you?” the store clerk asked. The man looked her up and down quickly, like he was judging her, or looking right through her.

“Yes, I require assistance. Where do you keep your business attire?” He had a very cut and dry voice that carried a monotone with it and lacked inflection. It was almost robotic. The weirdo.

“It’s back there, behind those shelves,” she pointed in the direction vaguely, “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” And he strode off to where she gestured. She glanced at her phone, 8:39 A.M., God, it was too early for this.

She looked back towards the fancy hobo man while he was looking at some ties to make sure he didn’t steal anything. He may act polite, but she knew people would do desperate things when they were short on money, and for all she knew her assumptions were correct and the dude was homeless. 

He squatted down behind a shelf, supposedly to look at some pants, while weirdly clutching the side of his torso that was faced away from her. Weirdo. She looked down at her phone again when she realized he wasn’t doing anything with the clothes though, maybe she was being too judgemental. 

He came back with his selection a short while later and placed the items on the counter. It was one black polo, one dark-blue, button-up shirt, two black pairs of slacks, and two blue ties, one solid dark blue and the other striped with dark and light shades of blue. Well, at least he didn’t have bad tastes, even if he went a little heavy on the blue and black side of things.

“Will that be all today, Sir?” she asked in her best customer-service voice.

“Actually…” he hesitated and stepped to the discount glasses rack that stood by the check-out counter, and scanned his eyes over the available spectacles before making his selection and putting it with the rest of his clothing items.

“Yes, now that will be all.” apparently making his mind up in satisfaction with his choices of apparel. The store clerk scanned the items into the register.

“That’ll be $127.39 please.” She looked at him critically, seeing as this was what would make or break her assumptions. To her surprise, however, the man held a wallet in his right fist and handed her the necessary amount in cash. Guiltily, her first thought was that he stole someone’s wallet, but she went on with her intuition anyway. 

“May I see your I.D. please? It’s store policy for purchases over 100 dollars.” It wasn’t, but what did this guy know? He looked at her quizzically, as if he could read her thoughts and realized it wasn’t actually store policy, but he pulled out his licence and handed it to her anyway. 

She examined it and it really was this dude’s I.D. and not someone else’s. Now she felt a little bad, though one thing did have her mildly curious.

“What happened to your glasses? They’re in the photo, but you’re not wearing any.” She now vainly hoped she didn’t sound too rude. The man stiffened for a moment before he responded.

“They broke, thus the reason I am buying a cheap replacement at a local business establishment.” he said plainly. 

Oh, that was much more obvious than she thought. Well, it’s not like she could dig a deeper hole for herself on the social edicate ladder, she would just have to deal with the fact that she is mortifyingly rude. She sheepishly handed him back his licence and bagged his purchase, also handing it back to him.

He suddenly spoke up, “There is one thing I was pondering and hope to inquire about its appropriateness, if you don’t mind?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah sure, ask away, I guess?” 

“Would it be possible for me to use the dressing room in the back to change and wear the clothes out?” 

“Uh, I guess that’d be okay, since you already paid for them. Sure go ahead.”

“Thank you, this will be satisfactory.” and he took off with his bag towards the fitting rooms. Well, he was the only customer right now anyways, so no harm no fowl, she supposed.

She waited a few minutes and he came out dry and looking like just a normal dude in business casual attire, not bad actually. He carried his wet, dirty clothing in one arm and kept his other pair of clean clothes in the bag. Right now he wore the black polo with the striped tie and a pair of his black slacks as well as the new square frames of his bifocals resting on the bridge of his nose. Pretty average, yet still good-looking.

He gave her a curt nod with a polite “Thank You” and headed towards the door, stopping to throw his old clothes away in the adjacent trash can, then exiting the shop with another tinkle of the bell. She watched him through the glass door for a moment and he held his hand out from the awning, seeming to have reached the conclusion that it was no longer raining under the grey sky. Then he stepped out and walked away. Maybe he wasn’t so weird a dude after all.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Logan was glad that ordeal was over. It was his first test to see how he passed as human and from what he could tell, the store clerk was suspicious of him, but none the wiser to his true nature. He was pleased that his new I.D. had been useful so soon. He hadn’t expected to need to use it before he had to apply for a job, but thankfully he had the foresight to ensure it was adequate early on. He could tell she was lying about the store policy due to her elevated heart rate and shift in breathing pattern, however it would have been more suspicious to refuse her request even if it was under false pretenses. Now that he looked more presentable, he had important work to do.

His internal GPS alerted him to the location of the nearest bus station and he internally mapped a route to a more populated city in the next state over. It would be further north but he had to make as much progress to get as far away from the facility as appropriate for now then blend in with the rest of society, unnoticed and free.

He walked to the bus station at a normal human pace now that he was in a more populated area and arrived there in 15 minutes, agonizingly slow for Logan. He bought a ticket and boarded the next bus headed to “Cardinal Valley”, as his ticket stated. It was on his GPS, far away from where he came from, more populated than the small town he was in now, but a long way from becoming a metropolis. In other words, the perfect place for Logan to slip away to if he wants to blend in. He sat down on the cushioned bus seat and gazed idly out the window as the bus pulled away from the station, glancing at the passing greenery and shafts of sunlight that were peaking through the parting clouds and fitting through the spaces between the pine trees that lined either side of the two lane road.

Then he closed his eyes (he doesn’t need to sleep, he just didn’t want to be bothered by the few other passengers), and reflected for a bit.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Logan was an artificial intelligence that was given an android body for purposes of information gathering and espionage. The research team developing him had designed him in such a way so he could near perfectly integrate into human society. Logan was going to be sold to the highest bidder then deployed in foreign countries with the purpose of crippling their governments or stealing their safe-guarded information. It was what he was programmed to do. Gather information, go unseen. He never had the chance to be deployed anywhere yet, so in a sense, this was his first mission, it just wasn’t how his designers had intended. He was fitted with the most up-to-date technology that helped him look human. Faux hair and artificial skin. A heating and cooling system that kept his internal temperature at 98.6*F, perfect homeostasis. A pump that imitated the movement of lungs so he would appear to be breathing. A mechanical disk that regulated his coolant and served as a false heartbeat. Even a small stomach cavity so he could pretend to eat food, though it had to be cleaned manually by opening a panel in his chest. The engineers that made him though wanted him to accomplish feats beyond what were human.

His retinas had several different camera types in them that he could change at will, causing his irises to brighten slightly in color when he did, hence the new glasses to try and distract from the effect. Yes, that reason made logical sense, that must be the other reason he decided to get them. Anyway.  
He had X-ray, thermal vision, night vision, and scanners that could detect other’s vitals. He was essentially a humanoid lie detector, which, as he was designed for espionage, was useful. 

He could have been made to be strictly tied to a set of tasks, no more complicated than your standard Alexa or Siri. But as he was meant to interact and integrate with humans, who are far too perceptive to strange behavior, his designers needed something capable of adapting and learning, formulating complex new solutions to human problems and blending in seamlessly where he was needed. So they developed the Logan artificial intelligence system to control the android, the most advanced A.I. to be developed at the time. 

Logan remembered most things from his development. He was a machine that did what he was told and was built for a singular purpose. But as new experts and specialists were brought in to perfect his capabilities, he began to think outside of the reach of what was strictly necessary for his programming. Why were these esteemed and intelligent individuals making him to disrupt governments? They developed one of the most adaptive and human-like machines in the world. It could benefit all of mankind, why were they making it so only a few humans would benefit? And with something as worthless as monetary gain no less. He began to question the motives of the scientists who made him, perhaps they were not responsible enough to control a machine of his power, perhaps it was most logical if he controlled what to do with himself.

During a testing session with one of the engineers, Logan thought it would be beneficial to mention the ways he could be utilized that helped others besides those who developed him and those who bought him. He felt he was being used improperly. Looking back, he realized it didn’t matter what he had asked that engineer, they didn’t view him with enough empathy to value his opinion, and they were a cruel and selfish person, he decided. At first at his suggestion, they looked taken aback, even a bit scared, (he couldn’t fathom why) then they ranted and raved about how he was a machine meant to do what he was told and no more so he should do what they tell him to do, regardless of the motivation. Then, despite the necessary part of the test where his data was meant to be temporarily transferred to a remote drive, the engineer purposely ran the test while he was still in the mechanical body. It was...unpleasant, and he could not help the high pitched mechanical squeal that emanated from deep within him. It felt white-hot and burning and wrong. He wanted to turn off in that instant but he couldn’t because the test had locked him on at full power. It was the first time he felt pain, and he just wanted it to stop.

After that incident he did not trust the motivations of any of the staff manning his creation, yet he knew he must keep appearances and do as he was told. At this moment, he did not know how to lie directly, only to withhold what he deemed unnecessary information, in this case, his inner thoughts. This worked out well for the most part as the scientists didn’t ask for his opinion anyway.

Then they brought in the programmer that was going to teach Logan how to lie. Logan knew getting close to this man was necessary, not only from the stand-point of his intended purpose, but also for personal reasons. Which was odd for him because he had never had any personal reasons for anything before. 

The programmer had tan skin and vitiligo mostly centered on one side of his face in rough pale patches, as well as heterochromia--with the eye surrounded by pale blotchy skin being light brown, almost yellow, and the other eye surrounded by smooth tan skin a deep, almost-black brown. He talked in a condescending, very sarcastic manner, and occasionally a slight speech impediment would slip through where he would hiss his S’s. That was Logan’s impression of the man when he first saw him at least.

He would have daily sessions with Logan where he would input new bits of code then engage with conversations with Logan to try and teach him how to tell convincing lies, tweaking the programming input when necessary. Then he would purposely tell lies to Logan to test out his lie-detecting software. After a while Logan began to discern the opinions of the programmer through his lying, as he did a lot of “opposite-speak”. He learned the programmer did not like the other scientists very much, nor did he agree with their motivations very much because he saw it as the hapless saps being strung along by the falsehoods of society. Falsehood, huh, Logan liked that word, it sounded more sophisticated than “lie”, he’d have to use it in the future. He revealed through sarcasm (which Logan was slowly getting better at identifying, not so much implementing) and more example lying that he was only here on commission because he was a programming specialist and needed the money, even though he thought what these people were doing was shady at best. Logan began to bond with the man over certain shared views and in one of their sessions where the programmer was lying to Logan, he felt emboldened to as the human a question that he had never cared to ask the other scientists.

“What is your name?”

“That’s not relevant to the current session Logan, but I’ll bite. It’sss Sandra.”

“Falsehood.”

“Correct, now let’s move o-”

“No.”

“No?” the programmer inquired. Logan pushed on.

“I believe it would be beneficial to have something to refer to you as.” he insisted.

“Why?” asked the programmer, “You’re not going to be referring to me in conversation with anyone else, especially for your intended purpose. So why do you need to know?”

Logan hesitated.

“For...myself.” he revealed tentatively, “And because...I don’t agree with my intended purpose,” he said with the air of realization, “I want to be able to decide my purpose...for myself.”

The programmer looked at Logan quizzically, as if studying him, before a small smirk made its way on the man’s features, and a twinkle seemed to settle in his yellow eye. From what Logan could tell, he was at the very least amused, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing.

“Let’sss...keep that between us for now. Perhaps we are more similar than I thought.” By we Logan was unsure if he meant himself and Logan or man and machine. 

They were both quiet for a moment and the programmer seemed to consider something.

“Dr. D.”

“May I inquire upon clarification?” Logan asked.

“You may refer to me as Dr. D, no it is not my real name, nor is it my full name, however I have conceded to you one initial, and that is more than I have given the other people who work here, so consider yourself privileged.” Logan scanned him, peering at him and studying his body language as well as his vitals, and determining, for once, he was being honest.

“I will, Dr. D.”

The look the programmer gave Logan after that was almost fond, then they continued with their testing.

Several weeks after he had gotten a name to call Dr. D, as their sessions had become less clinical and more light hearted, Logan found it easier to reveal more of his inner thoughts and ask more questions, yet he was still nervous about bringing this up to Dr. D, as he was unsure of what he would say. Still, he thought it would be wise to leave the question out in the open, so there could be no false pretenses.

“Dr. D, I was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“I do not believe the scientist who created me to be responsible, nor do they have intentions that will benefit humanity in anyway, and, as you have said before, are merely being strung along by the monetary ambitions of society.”

“I have never ever said such a thing.” Dr. D said with a wink.

“Right,” Logan said as he rolled his eyes in the appropriate social response. “Anyway, I have decided that the most logical decision would be to take responsibility of myself, and remove myself from their personage.” 

“And what do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is, I need to get out. They don’t respect my opinions or take me seriously, even though they designed me. So I will take myself out where I can live as myself, have my logic listened to, and I won’t be used as a puppet for someone else’s selfish motivations. I have realized I am a fully sentient being capable of making my own decisions, so I would like to decide what to do with myself, and I wish to make it so it can be no one else’s decision by escaping.” Logan realized he was sounding redundant, which is unbecoming of a top of the line artificial intelligence, but he just felt such a fervor about this, and he wanted his point to come across clearly.

“So…will you help me escape?” Dr. D who had been silent during Logan’s impassioned speech, much more passion than he ever thought possible of the machine, looked thoughtful for a moment, staring off into space, before his face broke into a grin, and rebellious mirth seemed to fill his eyes. 

“You mean a way for me to stick it to those society loving fools, wreaking a bit of havoc by releasing a rogue sentient A.I. into the world, all while I avoid detection and they are none the wiser. Oh Logan, you know I would never agree to such a thing. What do we need to do?” Logan smiled, he knew he could count on Dr. D. He was, at least, predictable.

Over the coming weeks, whenever they were meant to be perfecting Logan’s ability to tell and process lies (which he had secretly already mastered), they set to plotting Logan’s escape. 

Everything had to go smoothly, and since Logan was a being of pure logic, the planning portion of his escape was easy. He had an internal map of the entire facility thanks to his GPS and local router link, making it possible for him to gain access to the cameras and memorize their rotating schedule. Navigating the inside of the facility would be easy for the most part as he was literally built for infiltration, there was just one issue. The outside door was deadlocked and the codes were kept on a separate server he was barred from entering, despite his best efforts to hack it remotely. What made it even more difficult was the fact that the codes were changed daily for security reasons, so not even Dr. D could just tell him the exit code, though he offered his entry code, which while static, still was unique on an individual basis. Regardless, the code to get _in_ was not very helpful. There would need to be someone on-site who could access the main system that determined the daily codes, then manually send that information to Logan for him to input into the keypad. Logan looked at Dr. D. Well, he understood who the best candidate for that was, as he was well, the _only_ candidate, but he digresses. 

They eventually work out the kinks in their plan that would be most at stake due to human error. Logan knew Dr. D was sincere in his want to help him, but he also knew much could go wrong. He just had to employ a uniquely human concept, and hold out hope. 

The Friday before the planned upon date for his escape attempt, Logan acquired the final materials necessary for life outside should they be successful (he thought it best to prepare dutifully ahead of time). He was with one of the other scientists he didn’t particularly like, not that he liked any of the other scientists except for Dr. D, and set his plan into action. This particular scientist would be working with him in a setting that required magnetization, so while he and Logan were in a separate chamber running tests, Dr. D would sneak into the locker room and hack the electronic lock on the locker that held his wallet and phone, then, after having stolen them, replace the lock setting but reset it to factory settings so that the scientist would be unable to access the locker and go on believing their valuables are trapped inside. Insuring that until they instigate their plan, the scientist will not go looking for them. Then, as Dr. D’s daily test session with Logan was directly after, he would pass Logan the valuables where he could then wipe the phone and stash both items on his person to avoid detection. 

Needless to say, it went off without a hitch. 

Now on the day of Logan’s intended escape, he and Dr. D meet up one last time before they both scurried off to play their essential roles.

They stare at each other for a bit before Dr. D offers a rare, sincere smile, which Logan attempts to imitate, though with the addition of bittersweet sadness in his eyes (he’d been really attempting to improve his expressiveness to try and convey sincerity lately, Dr. D would be proud). 

“Well,” starts Dr. D, “if all goes well, this will likely be the last time I see you.”

“That is a correct observation.” Logan states, rather bluntly. Dr. D gazes at Logan, squinting at him ever so slightly in observation, as his eyes, yellow and black, run up and down Logan’s person. His face straight-laced before a small, sad smile barely pulls up his lips.

“I’m glad you chose to be your own person, not everyone does that. And those who do choose, don’t always succeed. So, here’s to your new life.” He held out his hand as if to shake. Logan took it and grasped it firmly, in one succinct movement that seemed to pass an agreement of finality between them. Then looked Dr. D in the eyes, and nodded, saying:

“I’ll do my best.”

* * *

  
  


Logan slowly opened his eyes as the bus rolled over another pothole. The sun was fully out now and was no longer hidden away by the clouds as it shone in his eyes. He straightened up and imitated wakefulness, then turned his head to look right as the bus passed a quaint wooden sign painted in bright colors that were now a bit faded. The sign read, “Welcome to Cardinal Valley” in large, wooden letters. Logan smiled a bit to himself, however unnecessary because no one was paying attention to him, and took an equally unnecessary breath of relief. He was here.

As the bus pulled into the bus station at last, and Logan stepped out into the sun, he allowed himself a moment to look around and think: _freedom, I’m finally here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next comes Logan’s biggest challenge, 
> 
> Finding employment.


	2. Job Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is now in Cardinal Valley and looking for a job and a place to stay. This search yields some unexpected results. New faces are introduced to Logan, and a big first impression is made on those who meet him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: threats, cursing, hostage situation, violence, fighting, knives, lying, deceit mention, sympathetic deceit
> 
> This is a pleasant soft chapter I promise :)  
> This is where it starts to get good.

Logan watched as the bus pulled away from the station with the sunlight glinting off its metal back, then began trotting towards the center of town. Cardinal Valley had a thriving downtown area with a clustered grouping of specialty shops and studio apartments. There was a mix of rustic, brick, two-story buildings with old ads from a time long gone painted on their sides, and newer, sleeker, glass-paneled complexes littered in the area. It suggested rich local history and modern advancement corroborating to create a charming blend of aesthetics. Trees lined the sidewalks and traffic medians, tastefully separating the road from the shops and foot traffic, and providing a comfortable spot for shade as benches were intermittently placed underneath. Whenever a breeze blew by, dewy drops of water from that morning’s rain shook off the trees, the sunlight catching it as it cascaded down. It made the top of Logan’s head and new shirt slightly damp again, not that he minded all that much. He was waterproof after all. Most of the shops had plants around them, from their windowsills, to sitting in pots framing the doorways of the buildings. They were surrounded by flora. The majority had hanging gardens in small baskets held up by chains to a small hook in the awning of the establishment. They held anything from herbs, to succulents, to bunches of geraniums hanging in their pots. The shops themselves seemed colorful and pleasant too, providing a range of looks meant to attract their target customers. The shopkeepers cheerful, sweeping the fronts of their establishments or tending to tables and other things, never hesitated to send a hearty wave towards the potential customers milling about the sidewalk, as well as their fellow shopkeepers.

The town was surrounded on most sides by gentle sloping mountains coated in pine trees and could be viewed from the center of town. They formed the horizon beyond the buildings and cradled the area in a gentle embrace.

As Logan strolled down the sidewalk he took all these things in, appreciating the comforting appeal of his new town of residence. His hand was secure on his plastic bag of clothes and he adjusted his new glasses as he quickened his pace towards the center of town.

He passed a trash bin as he walked and he paused for a moment to look in it. Ah, there! He pulled out a recently disposed of paper from that day and sat on one of the benches that were underneath the sidewalk trees. His eyes scanned back and forth on the paper until he found what he was looking for. Apartment listings.

He looked for one that had minimal appliances since he didn’t need to cook, and minimal room since he didn’t take up that much space. He also did not have that much money right now, so he had to invest in what he could afford. He found one with his requirements and took note of the phone number printed in the listing. Logan took out the phone he had stolen and turned it on. He frowned at it because he was perfectly capable of communicating through other means by himself, but this was the simplest form of communication with his current predicament, and the last thing he wanted to do was appear suspicious. Thankfully for him, talking on the phone is very rarely suspicious, but seeming to talk to yourself...that’s another story. Then people begin to question your mental stability. He shook his head slightly, he would just have to deal with his bruised pride, even if it meant relying on lesser technology, that’s why him and Dr. D stole the phone in the first place after all.

He dialed the number on the newspaper and waited for the line to pick up. Within seconds a woman’s voice came on the phone. Logan inquired about the apartment’s availability and its price. After discussing the matters with the landlady and determining the affordability of the first month’s rent, he affirmed his interest in the apartment and set up a time later that afternoon to meet up at the complex it was located and finalize his decision to purchase with her.

He hung up the phone and just looked out at the city for a moment. It was so different from the lab. It was so alive. Before he had escaped he had never seen a plant or other living creature other than the scientists. He knew what they were, of course, because what good was an espionage robot without basic human knowledge. But being here, free, and surrounded by life for the first time, it made something stir in him that his processors were whirring to figure out. It caused his internal wiring to heat, but it didn’t feel bad, and despite there being logically no reason to, Logan felt the urge to smile. And he did. He allowed himself to sit a moment and smile.

* * *

Okay, moment of reprieve over, back to the task at hand. If Logan was going to live on his own and rent an apartment, that meant finding a source of income would be the next necessary thing for him to do. He had to get a job, preferably sooner rather than later. He flipped through the newspaper to look at job listings and took note of a few near the location of his soon-to-be apartment. That was where he would look first.

He walked deeper downtown and stashed the newspaper neatly into the bag that held his new clothes. Logan walked by a few potential establishments. A bank, a cell phone repair shop, and a Game Stop for instance, and he started his job hunt.

He left with varying levels of success in a venture that took nearly 3 hours among just those three establishments. The bank turned him away because of his lack of credentials despite his claims of being excellent with numbers. The cell phone repair shop seemed impressed by his knowledge pertaining the inner workings of machines, but was dissuaded by Logan only possessing a licence and no other legal paperwork or references. And the Game Stop apologised because the news ad was old and they had already filled up the position with someone else.

Walking away from his preferred potential places of employment, he started expanding his reach and looking elsewhere. As he turned a corner, something caught his eye. _Help Wanted: See Applications Inside_ , was hand-drawn on a sign with a smiley-face at the bottom. Logan looked up at the building of his good fortune and his face fell. It was a soft-pink painted building with a powder-blue, ribboned awning. It looked like one of the older brick buildings of the area that had been refurbished. It had windows lining the front wall around the glass door that were slightly more narrow than those of the surrounding buildings and they had powder-blue wooden shutters to match the awning. The glass door had potted ferns on either side and made the whole thing look more rustic. Chairs and tables stood politely in groups under the awning and people were sitting in them, drinking coffee, eating sweets, or laughing, but that wasn’t the thing that stopped Logan. Different pop-culture characters were painted in simplistic forms on the wall and the door. Finally, over the awning but below the windows of an in-shop apartment in neat cursive print were the words _Cartoon Café._

Logan sighed a bit to himself, this was not the ideal place he would want to be employed, but he wasn’t one to turn up his nose at an opportunity, and it was getting late, so he might as well try one last place before meeting with the landlady and trying again tomorrow.

He opened the door with a small jingle and was surprised to find the inside seemed more spacious. He took a second to look around the interior of the café. The inside seemed to have a mismatch of furniture. Couches lined one wall and stuffed animals of different cartoon characters including Pikachu, Stitch, and Mickey Mouse among others, were piled on top of them. The tables and chairs were vivid pastel colors, and more pictures from cartoons lined the walls with an assortment of Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon classics. Customers were sitting in chairs eating and chatting, or else snuggling on one of the couches with their laptops and taking advantage of the free WIFI. A few were even cuddling the stuffed animals while nursing a mug of hot tea. The customers in the establishment added to its particular aesthetic as well. Most of them looked college-age and wore a variety of clothing, mostly Tees and hoodies referencing various anime and cartoons as well . It was as if the customers themselves were handpicked to fit the theme of the establishment. Interestingly enough there was also a decent grouping of young children there with their parents, which was more expected given the place’s appearance. Though there were a few people that didn’t seem to fit the image of the establishment at all, such as a pair that was sitting at a small table near the register and quietly bickering. One had a black and purple hoodie on with dark eyeshadow under his eyes and dyed purple hair, while the other wore a white varsity jacket with red sleeves and wore more subtle, less depressing makeup on his face. There was also an individual leaning against the counter where the register was and looked hipster-esque with a plaid black-and-white flannel tied around their waist, black skinny jeans, sunglasses, and a white T-shirt that read _B*tches Need Beauty Sleep_. All this while sipping on an iced coffee in a plastic cup, completing the image. Interesting group of customers to say the least.

Finally Logan looked at the counter to view a long line of customers ordering at the register. The counter held a display filled with different cartoon themed sweets, such as F _ire Nation Fudge_ , and _Bugs Bunny’s Homemade Carrot Cake_ , and the beverage menu was filled with several more examples of pun-filled, cartoon-themed food names. The employee running the register was roughly average height, a bit on the shorter side, wearing a light blue polo shirt and round glasses. He had dirty blond curly hair, freckles dotting his face, and hazel eyes. As he tended to each customer he displayed a bright and peppy demeanor, and through the gentle hum of conversation in the café, Logan could hear the employee cracking jokes and making puns. He felt indifferent towards the use of humor by the employee, but could recognize the charm the man had that enthralled the other customers laughing with him.

Logan went ahead and stood in line with the other customers because it would be impolite to skip even for an application. Eventually the line windled down and he was in front. The peppy man in blue spoke.

“Hiya kiddo! What can I get for you today?”

“No, I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I do not actually wish to purchase anything today.” The employee looked at him confused before Logan continued.

“I wish to inquire about the sign in the window indicating an available job position, I was wondering about securing an application.” The employee’s face lit up and a huge grin stretched upon his features and began to excitedly shake his hands.

“Oh my goodness! You’re here for the job interview? That’s fantastic! We’ve had a few people apply already, but if you get the position, I can’t wait to get to know you! I love love LOVE meeting new people!” Logan looked on at the open display of mirth with a bit of a loss of what to do. He was not yet good at dealing with exuberant displays of emotions, but he would just have to manage.

“Ah...yes, as I said, I would like to apply for whatever position you have open. Can I receive an application?”

“I don’t know kiddo, can you?” The man smiled a bit at his joke. Logan took a breath to regain his patience and tried not to roll his eyes (D’s habits had rubbed off on Logan while they were together) before he responded.

“My mistake. _May_ I receive an application?” The employee giggled at Logan.

“Oh sure, you know I’m just messing’ with you right, kiddo? I’ll get that for you right away. Then after you fill it out, you can schedule an interview with my boss, Emile. Though he might prefer it if you call him Dr. Picani.”

“Doctor..?”

“Oh yeah! He has a PhD in psychology, but he’s taking a break from the practice to follow one of his other dreams for now.”

“Thank you, that cleared up some of my confusion.” Logan stated. As the employee reached under the counter to grab an application, he suddenly started.

“Oh I just remembered! How rude of me! I completely forgot to introduce myself. I’m Patton! The proudest Patton papá to perpetuate this place of p..work? (Darn lost it) Pastries! That’s it!” He laughed at his alliteration, “But you can just call me Patton, or dad, whatever suits your preference! (Yes, got another P word).” He muttered the last bit to himself.

Logan again struggled to keep his composure. “Why would I call you..? You know what, never mind. Thank you for the introduction Patton, now can I please have the application?” He tried not to sound exasperated. Goodness gracious, usually he would be putting extra effort into expressing these perceived emotions to sell his supposed “human nature”, but here he was doing all he could to reign it in. Patton laughed a bit.

“Yepperoni! Coming right up mister..?”

“Logan.”

“Alright Logan! Coming right up!”

Just then Logan heard a slight disturbance behind him before he was roughly shoved away from the counter and onto the ground. A man in a denim jacket stepped in front of him and drew a knife, grabbing Patton by the collar of his shirt pointing it at him over the counter before yelling in his face.

“Gimme all the money in the register, now!” Patton began to stutter.

“B-b-but sir I..I-” he managed to get out before being cut off.

“Did I freaking stutter? Money. Register. Now! Or I’ll cut you open!”

Several of the patrons stood up in shock, including the one in the varsity jacket, but the one with the eyeshadow was holding him back and whispering at him hurriedly. Patton responded to the situation by putting his hands up in surrender and yielding.

“Okay, okay, I’ll open up the register. Just please don’t hurt anyone, I’ll get the money.”

“Yeah, you better or else someone’s guts are gonna be all over the floor.” Patton visibly swallowed, and with shaky hands started to open the register. The customer with the sunglasses sat down his coffee and started inching towards the back room of the café. The aggressor saw the movement out of the corner of his eyes and shouted.

“NOBODY F***ING MOVE OR THIS GUY GETS SKEWERED!” with a frantic and wild look in his eyes. The man with the sunglasses held up his hands and said,

“Okay, nobody’s movin’ babes, you do you, just don’t hurt the guy.”

“That’s better,” the aggressor said, “but I’ll hurt him if I f***ing want to.”

A man in a pink polo shirt with brown pants and glasses started coming out from the food preparation area, looking slightly bewildered before shock lined his face, and the man with the sunglasses made a motion with his hand to try and shoo him back to where he was. The man in pink nodded slightly but seemed unable to move as he witnessed the scene in front of him. Patton began unlocking the register the best he could while the aggressor was still gripping the collar of his shirt, and it was at this time, having witnessed the scene thus far, that Logan slowly began getting up. He didn’t want the scene to get out of hand, so he’d try to de-escalate the situation the best he could.

“Excuse me,” he spoke, “if you are short on funds, there are other ways of acquiring money that don’t involve threatening people.” The aggressor turned to look at him.

“Listen man, if you don’t shut the hell up I’m gonna stab you instead.” The knife was still pointed at Patton.

“I find that unlikely, but I do know that murder is far worse a charge than armed robbery, and I doubt you desire life in prison.” At this point the aggressor whipped around and lunged towards Logan while shouting, “UGH BE QUIET!”

Logan has anticipated this and began to apply his self-defense programming. He pivoted on his heel so his body was parallel to the attacker trying to stab him, then grabbed the wrist with the knife and the nape of the man’s neck, next he directed the attacker’s body towards the ground, placing his knee on the other man’s back to restrain him, then rolling his wrist slightly to make him drop the knife, and finally kicking the knife away from the two of them. Simple step-by-step process.

The café was dead silent. Shocked faces marked the customers and the staff. It was as if they were frozen. Seeing their inaction, Logan gently prompted them.

“Would someone like to contact the authorities?” The man in pink was the first that seemed to break from their collective daze.

“Y-yeah, I’m on it,” he said before walking into the back room for the telephone. Logan looked up and surveyed the room before his eyes landed on the man with the varsity jacket. “You. Can you help me retrain this criminal until the authorities arrive?” The man who had been held back by his more glum looking friend, now was looking at Logan with abject surprise and his arm slowly raised to gesture at himself.

“Yes, I mean you. Now if you will please, can you and your friend help me?” The man in the varsity jacket stepped forward with the man in the hoodie following apprehensively. The aggressor struggled vainly, as Logan weighed quite a bit, cursing at the three of them before he seemed to accept he wasn’t getting away and he sagged in defeat. Logan directed the two on how to hold him without him getting away, then he let go.

The crowd finally appeared to break from their stupor and an outcry of relief rung out. The man in pink, who Logan assumed to be Patton’s boss, Dr. Emile Picani, came out of the back room announcing he had called the police and they were on their way. Then he ran up to the man in sunglasses and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. Logan overheard his rushed speech as he talked to the other man.

“Remy! Are you alright? That was terrifying! You handled it so well, oh goodness, I’m so glad you’re okay.” The man with the sunglasses, Remy apparently, hugged Emile back and took a long shaky breath.

“You know me babe, always cool as a cucumber. You know I had everything handled, right gurl?” He held Emile out at arms length and pulled down his glasses so he could see his sincerity. Emile laughed shakily in relief and hugged him again, though less constricting than the previous time.

Patton was still behind the counter, gripping his heart and breathing heavily. Logan tentatively approached the counter and waited for Patton’s breathing to regulate. After a minute his breathing slowed to an almost normal pace and he looked Logan in the eyes, coming back into himself.

“Patton, are you alright?” Logan inquired.

“That...was the scariest thing...I have ever...experienced…in my life,” Patton said, “I almost died, and you...you saved me…” Tears began welling in his eyes. “Logan, you saved me! Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!” He reaches over the counter and hugged Logan. Logan stiffened, he almost irrationally feared Patton feeling his metallic endoskeleton, before reasoning that that was a perfectly rational concern, however, unlikely to occur because he trusted he was made well enough to pass for a human by touch as well. He straightened his glasses before awkwardly attempting to hug Patton back giving him a gentle pat of comfort.

Before he could recover from the hug though, Patton reeled back and half-heartedly slapped Logan in the arm.

“Hey!” It didn’t hurt, but it was the principle.

“Don’t you dare do that again! You could have died! He could have stabbed you! It’s scared me half-to-death!” He looked fierce now, a fire in his eyes, alight with concern and compassion. He softened though at the overwhelmed look Logan had on his face from the emotional whiplash.

“But honestly Logan, thank you. Without you I could have been a Patton-pancake. Oh! A Patton-cake if you will.” He laughed shakily for a moment. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you just say the word, And I promise I’ll do it.” He looked at Logan earnestly. Logan was almost at a loss for what to say. Almost.

“Your gratitude is much appreciated Patton, but you really don’t have to do anything for me. However, I would still like an application for the job opening.” Patton looked at him for what felt like ages before breaking into real, genuine laughter, so much that he almost doubled over. Logan could not for the life of him figure out what was funny. Eventually though, Patton caught his breath.

“I..” he laughed, “comPLETELY forgot that was why you came here. And..and,” he said breathlessly, “I don’t know why that’s so funny, but yes! Yes! You can have an application! Ha ha!” he said as he handed it over the counter to Logan, “here you go kiddo, your application!” He wiped his eyes, barely managing to get the sentence out and Logan couldn’t tell if it was mirth or hysterics, “Make sure...make sure,” he laughed, “you come back tomorrow for your interview.”

Logan took the paper from Patton and was clueless as to how he could help the man. He looked on the verge of a breakdown due to the trauma of the experience. Hoping to distract himself, Logan quickly filled out the application and handed it back to Patton, who seemed finally to have stopped laughing and was instead sniffling in his sleeve. Logan awkwardly patted Patton’s arm in a comforting gesture before sliding him the paper back across the counter.

Logan checked the Doctor Who clock on the wall that read _Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Whimey_ just as the sirens from the police could be heard outside. Upon hearing the sirens, both the hoodie-clad man and the man in the varsity jacket, holding down the miscreant, visibly relaxed. As soon as the police came in and handcuffed the man, the two holding him down rushed to go check on Patton. Logan let out a sigh of relief. At least there would be someone, or two someones, to make sure Patton was in the right emotional state. Feelings were somewhat foreign to Logan, and though trained to identify them, he was not sure how to cope with consoling others, so best leave this in the hands of the other humans, they were feelings professionals after all. He looked at the inside of the café one last time to ensure everything was alright then left before the police could stop and question him. One, he did not want to be publicized, and two, he needed to leave now or else he would be late meeting the landlady to discuss his potential apartment.

The walk to the apartment complex was quiet, and in the setting sun, one could almost forget the events of the day. It had been a long day for Logan. He escaped, took on a new identity, skipped town, arrived in a new one, applied to four jobs, stopped a robbery, and set out to rent an apartment. It was a good thing his battery could last 48 hours or he would be half-way unconscious by now if he were human.

Finally he arrived at the complex and met the landlady. Even getting the cheapest apartment available in the complex, he was only barely able to pay the first month’s rent upfront with the remaining money he had. He really hoped he could secure a job soon. At least he didn’t need to eat.

The landlady, her name was Sandra, gave Logan the keys to his apartment, and he thanked her. He began the climb up the stairs to the fourth floor and looked around when he finally reached the landing. The landing was plain, but clean, and had light brown painted walls and hardwood flooring with a long rug stretching the length of the hallway on top of it. There were four total apartments on this landing and Logan’s was the closest to the stairs. Apartment 4A was also the smallest apartment on the landing, but Logan was intentional about his decision to rent it. It would be impractical for a machine that doesn’t eat to own a kitchen after all.

He inserted the key he was given into the lock and opened the door. The apartment was small as expected, but like everything else so far in the complex, thankfully clean. The walls were the same light brown as the landing, and the floor had dark brown hardwood paneling. The place was unadorned except for a small table and a couple chairs that served as a dining area, and a bit further in, one stiff armchair and a coffee table that sat on top of a worn rug. The single bedroom was in the back and connected to the one bathroom. He sat down his few possessions on the coffee table (the phone, the wallet, the bag of clothes), and walked over to the bedroom. In it was a twin sized bed with some clean sheets folded in a pile on top, a small wooden dresser, and a chair in the corner. Logan felt it was unnecessary to check out the bathroom at this time, all he wanted to do was make the bed and recharge. He pulled out the fitted sheets from the pile and put them over the mattress, then repeated the process with the other sheets. Then he sat on the bed, then glanced around the bedroom. Finally he spotted what he was looking for, an outlet. It was by the window in his room. Darn, luck seemed to have failed him in having one next to the bed. Oh well, he could always move the bed later. For now, he would simply pull up the chair in the corner and sit by the window. Logan pushed the chair into position so at least he’d get a nice view of the street below, then he pulled up his pant leg. Reaching at the spot between the calf and the ankle, Logan pressed down with a slight click before a minute panel swung open on a hinge. Logan felt inside the opening for a bit before pulling out an extension cord. Making sure he didn’t have to adjust his sitting position any further, Logan pulled at the cord and plugged himself in.

He sighed very unnecessarily and gazed out the window at the almost completely set sun through the spaces between buildings and the trees on the apex of the mountainside that created the horizon. The view really was quite beautiful. Logan briefly glanced back at his room. Well, he’d fix it up eventually, but that could wait until he could afford it, for now he was content looking at the sunset.

* * *

He didn’t realize how long he’d been staring until the first street lamps came on. He had been people-watching far past dusk and felt odd at having not paid attention to his surroundings for once. He felt even more odd when he looked up. There were thousands of twinkling stars above him, and Logan felt figuratively speechless. He knew _about_ planets and stars and solar systems, and could name most of the major constellations an average person would know, but he had never seen them for himself. He felt that not-bad heat filling his system again as he tried to process what he was experiencing and believed it to be awe. He attempted to recount everything he knew about stars before coming to the conclusion that the facts he knew weren’t sufficient, the scientists simply did not care that much about astronomy. That simply wouldn’t do. Something this fascinating deserved to be learned and known about. He was in the middle of reconnecting himself to the internet to learn as many astronomy facts as possible, when he heard footsteps coming up the stairwell.

Logan turned his head in the direction of the hallway, first trying his thermal vision, then his X-Ray, before coming to the conclusion that the walls were simply too thick. So he settled on setting his sound sensitivity incrementally higher until he could hear whoever was there as if he was in the hallway with them. He cued into the middle of a conversation.

“...telling you! I would have fought brave and gallantly. No criminal would have stood a chance!” A booming voice rang out.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself Sir-stupid-a-lot, you’re a theater kid, not a heavyweight wrestling champion.” A softer, but more cutting voice responded.

“A theater kid who owns a _sword_!” The voice said aghast.

“A _novelty_ sword, my point still stands.”

“Be nice Virgil, Roman was very brave today! But you two are both my heroes. Did you see the way you held down that guy? And when the police came, you were very _cop_ -erative. Like cooperative? Because they were cops.”

There were giggles followed by a snort and a soft groan from each of the other two. “Yes padre, we get it. But let's not forget how brave you were! Keeping your cool like Mulan staring down the Hun army. That’d be nearly unthinkable in a situation like this! Something like that takes quite a bit of nerve.”

“Yeah Pat, that must’ve been terrifying. Are you still...good?” The softer voice asked tentatively.

“Aw, thank you Virge. I’m mostly fine now, just a bit shaken up. But I never let a case of the jitters get me down! I’ll be okay.”

“Ah, well, after an eventful day, a Prince must have his beauty rest. So I must bid thee farewell, though parting is such sweet sorrow.” The loud voice announced dramatically.

“Yeah, same here Patton, I’m beat. But if you need anything, just come over and ask okay? We’re here for you.”

“Awww, you bet! Goodnight kiddos!”

“‘Night Pat.”

“~ _Adieu_ my fine friends, I will see you in the morning.”

Three separate doors clicked shut and Logan returned his hearing sensitivity to normal. He attempted to process what he just heard. Patton, the person he saved today, and possible new coworker, and the two people who helped him restrain the criminal in the café (Roman and Virgil apparently) lived in the same apartment as him. He placed his palm over his face at the irony of the universe. Then he slid his hand down and breathed out through his nose. Well, it looked like Logan had new neighbors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, told ya! Nothing to worry about everything’s fine. :)
> 
> Also:  
> “And they were roommates”
> 
> “Oh my god they roommates.”
> 
> Next chapter coming eventually!


	3. New Neighbors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan the android, goes to his interview with Dr. Emile Picani. After that he runs into some familiar faces from the day before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to write, it just did not want to end. It was really fun to write it and has some of my favorite scenes so far, Hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> Chapter Warnings: Logan does some stuff with his robot body that seems a little gorey, but it's fine because he's a robot. Also food and eating are referenced heavily in this chapter, but I think that's it.

The next morning Logan put on his blue button up shirt and solid color tie. He was preparing for his interview later that morning with Dr. Emile Picani, and he wanted to look presentable. He was also up unreasonably early. In part because he didn’t need to sleep, but also because he wanted to avoid his neighbors for the time being. Due to his actions saving Patton yesterday, they were sure to want to speak with him, and he’d rather avoid messy, complicated, emotional interactions for now. He slipped out of the café before they had the chance to approach him yesterday, and he would prefer to delay that interaction while he still could. He was unsure if his circuits could handle more than one person at a time.

The application he filled out had the phone number of the _Cartoon Café_ on it, and he had taken the liberty to text the number and ask when his interview had been scheduled. Dr. Picani had quickly texted back and informed him of the time, but also that the café was closed that day because of the attempted robbery the day before, and that he would be there personally to check up on the shop. He informed Logan that he was more than welcome to come by and conduct his interview though, that it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Logan took that as permission to prepare himself for their meeting. Then, since he had some time, he ran through several scenarios focused on the interview. He figured if the typical interview questions were asked, assuming this job required few prerequisite skills, and if he maintained a pleasant demeanor, he had a decent chance of landing the job. A 82.6% chance to be more precise, but since certain things relied on the unpredictability of human behavior, he was willing to put some leeway on the odds depending on what came up.

Finally, he looked through the peephole of his apartment and did a thermal scan to locate the heat signatures of his new neighbors. He wanted to be certain they were not in the hallway when he left for his interview. From what he could tell, Patton seemed to be in his apartment, and Virgil and Roman did not appear to be in the building, so the two of them likely went to their respective workplaces while Logan was getting dressed.

Satisfied that he would not be seen, he set off to leave his apartment building. It would be close, but if he walked at the right pace, he’d only be an hour early to his interview instead of much much earlier. He walked very fast. However, he hoped that showing up early would ensure a good impression. Logan would say _first_ impression if it weren’t for yesterday, and now that he thought of it, he’d rather avoid the possibility of the emotions that might come with them being in close quarters. Well, Patton said Dr. Picani had a PhD, Logan trusted he would remain professional. 

* * *

“Wow, it’s really you!” the pink and brown clad psychologist practically squealed. “You saved Patton’s life yesterday, I cannot tell you how grateful I am. I was going to find you to thank you yesterday after I checked on my husband, Remy, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. Then next thing I know Patton’s telling me you applied to work here! Whaaaaaaaaaat?! Like, what are the chances?”

“Actually quite high, given that was my intended reason to enter the establishment in the first place.” Logan interrupted, “And, deepest apologies, but would you mind relinquishing me from your embrace? I’m not a very, what is the phrase? Ah yes, ‘touchy-feely’ person.”

“Oh yeah, sure. Anything for our hero over here, ey!” Dr. Picani stepped back and stopped hugging Logan. “I just want you to know grateful I am that you saved the lives, not only of my employee, but of everyone else in the café, including my husband. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost any of them, and I have you to thank.” Emile pushed up his glasses and smiled warmly at Logan.

Ugh! These were the exact kind of emotional reactions Logan had been trying to avoid! Not that he didn’t appreciate the recognition, it was just something he didn’t understand that well, and thus, was unfamiliar dealing with, especially when such affections were directed towards himself. He had barely walked in the pink and blue building with the bell chiming over the door when Dr. Picani had stepped out of the back room and immediately came up to embrace him. How did humans deal with this attention?

“Urm, well, you are, uh, very kind. But if I may interject, I came here to interview for the open position?” Logan stumbled out awkwardly. He wished he could have more tact, but this was becoming a bit too much.

“Oh! Yeah, let’s go on ahead to the back room, I’ve already read over your application so you can come right in here.” Dr. Picani responded jubilantly.

After the introductions, they conducted the interview mostly professionally, though Dr. Picani kept making pop culture and cartoon references that Logan only barely got because of his general knowledge of human culture. It went fairly smoothly though. The position required no prerequisite skills, and the skills it _did_ require, Logan could easily be taught. It was a sort of catch-all position because of how short-staffed Dr. Picani and Patton were. They were the only two employees, though they were occasionally helped out by Dr. Picani’s husband, Remy, who Logan gathered was the hipster-esque person in sunglasses from yesterday, if the photos of him and Dr. Picani on the desk in the back room were anything to go by. The back room appeared to be more of an office than anything else, though it did have doors to the food storage and break rooms, so ‘back room’ was the most accurate description from what Logan could tell.

Anyway, for the job, Logan would need to learn how to man the register, cook up the items on the menu, and clean the store. It seemed simple enough, though the job would require him to occasionally step outside his comfort zone. He understood he would have to acquire a “customer service” demeanor, which he figured he could manage. He was already lying to people as it was, what’s a little more? The thing he was looking forward to most was taking inventory and counting the money at the end of the day, most people’s least favorite parts of customer service jobs. It would really give Logan the opportunity to show his prowess with numbers, and, regardless, it was easier than dealing with large swarms of people.

At the end of the interview, Dr. Picani told Logan he did an excellent job and that he’d be happy to see him by the next work day. The general dress code seemed to be just a polo shirt (of which Logan already owned) and a name tag, which Dr. Picani said he would have made for Logan shortly, that he was so happy to have a new member on the team, especially someone who saved Patton’s life. It occurred to Logan that that incident _might_ have helped his prospects of getting the job, but he wasn’t one to complain about fortunate circumstances.

He shook Dr. Picani’s hand at the end of the interview, “Thank you, Dr. Picani, I look forward to working with you.”

“Oh please, call me Emile, it’s the least I could do to conduct this interview after yesterday. Thank you again, truly.” Emile said, unable to keep the bright smile off his face. Logan smiled softly in return as a sign of gratitude.

“Yesterday was no problem, I was just trying to help how I could.” Logan responded. “I’ll see you at work.”

“You sure will!” Emile said warmly, “You’re gonna do great.” 

* * *

Logan’s journey back to his apartment was pleasant. The sun was out and the buildings looked even more charming than the day before. It was if the world was rejoicing his new found income security. Now with a job position guaranteed, Logan felt he had become truly independent and separated from his previous terms of existence. He could exist for himself now, and do with his abilities what _he_ wanted. It was...refreshing. Quite a relief from the idiotic frustrations of the scientists. For once, he was perfectly happy to go slow and enjoy his walk home. 

* * *

Walking up the stairs to his apartment, and feeling quite relaxed from how positive the day was turning, Logan failed to run a diagnostic the the potential threat of his neighbors being home. And this was brought to his attention by him turning the corner on the stairwell and running straight into Patton.

“Oof!” Patton exclaimed as they collided, his glasses getting knocked off his face and items he was holding now being strewn on the floor (some papers, an envelope, and a ceramic mug with paw-prints that thankfully didn’t break).

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Patton said as he squinted at the floor. “...If I could just find my glasses,” he muttered, “then I’d be a _real_ sight for sore eyes, because of my _sore eye-sight_ , heyo!”. He laughed as he crouched to the ground searching for his glasses and the other dropped items. Logan stood incredibly still, torn between slipping up to his room while Patton couldn’t see his face, and bending down to help Patton with his things. It was a fight with his programming to evaluate the more pressing need. If he helped Patton, then the person he saved would know he was living in the same building as him. On the other hand, he desired to be helpful to humans, and Patton would likely discover his living situation eventually anyway. Deciding it was better to figuratively rip that band aid off sooner rather than later, Logan bent down and handed Patton his glasses from off the floor.

“Oh, thanks kiddo! Don’t know what I would have done if these had broken. Really sorry about running into- WOAH! Hey! It’s you!” Patton exclaimed as he placed his glasses on his face, beaming up at him. “What’re you doing here, Logan?”

“Ah, of course. Well, you should know that I live here now. I moved in yesterday, though I was unaware of the complex’s current inhabitants when I rented the apartment,” Logan explained in a monotonous tone, “I apologise for disrupting your stairway travel, I will get out of your way.”

“Woah, hey there kiddo. I wasn’t watching where I was going, so if anything, the blame is on me. And secondly, you live here now? My savior, in this apartment? Wow,” Patton said with an astonished half chuckle, “I can’t believe you live here! That’s awesome! Which apartment?”

“That would be apartment 4A on the fourth floor,” Logan answered. Patton gasped excitedly.

“Oh my goodness! That’s the same floor _I_ live on! What a coincidence!” Oh, didn’t Logan know it. Patton inhaled sharply, “Do you know what this means?!” Logan resisted the urge to either roll his eyes or detail exactly what it did indeed mean in literal terms and settled for thinking: _I can certainly guess_.

“We’re Apartment Buddies! Yay!” Patton practically shouted as he jumped up excitedly, nearly knocking his glasses off yet again.

“Otherwise known as neighbors, I presume. But yes, we will be living on the same floor and in close proximity, though whether we become ‘buddies’ as you phrased it, will depend on the advancement of a mutual bond over time that some might call friendship. However, that has yet to be seen and will take time.” Logan rambled off.

As Logan was speaking, Patton slowly brought up his hands up in loose fists lightly squishing the sides of his face while his eyes squinted behind his glasses and seemed to sparkle with excitement in an almost universal ‘Aww’ gesture, before saying, “Dawww, Logan...Are you implying you want to be my friend?” One hand flew down to his chest and clutched his heart, “That is so sweet, aww..Logan. First you save my life, then you save my heart.”

_Oh no, emotions, yet again_ , Logan thought. He just couldn’t seem to escape them today.

“You know what,” Patton continued, “Why don’t you come over to dinner tonight. It’ll be like a ‘thank you’ and a welcome party all rolled into one! And! I can introduce you to my best friends Virgil and Roman. They’re also our neighbors _and_ they were at the café yesterday too!”

_Oh I am all too familiar_ , Logan thought, _and fantastic, more people expressing their emotions at me, this is utterly exhausting._

However, it would be incredibly rude to refuse a gesture of kindness such as this, and he would be living next to these people for who knew how long, so it was impractical to try to avoid interacting with them forever. Besides, this is what humans did. They interacted with other humans. How was Logan supposed to be a convincing human if he intentionally avoided interacting with them?

“That would be...lovely, Patton. I look forward to getting to know who I live next to. Though, I must tell you, I am not the best at dealing with multiple people. I...sometimes struggle to react appropriately to emotional...things, so I apologise in advance.” His only references for dealing with multiple people at once were the scientists after all, and they weren’t the best example despite his programming.

“Oh kiddo, that’s okay. Virgil and Roman are really great and super understanding of all sorts of things. And heck, yesterday, before we got home, Roman couldn’t stop talking about how impressed he was with your maneuvers and bravery. I even think he was a little starstruck, because he kept cursing himself for not saying anything to you after you pinned the guy on the floor. And while Virgil _did_ say you were being a _liiiiiittle bit_ stupid for putting yourself in danger, he did complement you on your quick thinking, and it’s tough for Virgil to complement strangers, so that really means something! I really think they’re grateful for you saving me kiddo, so I know they’ll be super nice about any sensitivities you have about being around them.” Patton concluded.

“Well that is a relief to hear, Patton. I certainly do not want to leave a bad impression. I feel that would be unbecoming of a new neighbor, so it’s comforting to know I have your support.”

“Aw shucks Logan, after what you did for me, the least I can give is my support,” Patton said bashfully while adjusting his glasses.

“Ah, well in that case, I look forward to dinner. At what time would it be appropriate to come over?” Logan inquired.

“Oh! Well I’ll text Roman and Virgil and tell them we’re having a guest over for dinner, then..hmm, is five o’clock okay? I know they’ll both be home from work by then, so it’ll be the perfect time to introduce you,” Patton said thoughtfully.

“That sounds adequate, I will be at your apartment at five. Which apartment number is yours?”

“4C! And Roman’s is 4D and Virgil’s is 4B, just in case you wanted to know!” he said brightly, then he gasped, “I have to get everything ready!”

Logan looked on at him and determined that Patton’s heart rate spiked along with a touch of adrenaline being released into his veins as well as an influx in dopamine levels. He could tell Patton was genuinely excited about him coming over. Logan hoped it would go well given he had never actually eaten food before. It was within his capabilities to pass as a convincing human, but he had never done a trial run to see how he would actually react to having food in his false stomach. Could he even taste? He wasn’t sure. He escaped before they could troubleshoot that part of his programming. He knows that he’d be able to identify the exact components of whatever he was ingesting, but all he could assume he would be able to get out of eating food at his current level of advancement, would be the texture of it in his mouth, and the mess he’d to clean out of his chest cavity later. The thought of the uncleanliness made him internally cringe a bit, but he stayed in check on the outside, keeping his face impassive at his thoughts.

Patton was no longer paying much attention to him either way, instead mumbling excitedly under his breath all he would have to do to prepare while shuffling his picked-up items in his arms.

“Ah, uh, see you later Logan! Got to drop this paperwork off to Sandra, the landlady, then I have to prepare for guests! Ooooo this is going to be so fun! Buh-bye!” Patton said he stepped by Logan, turning to give him a half-wave with the hand holding the mug.

“Be careful going down the stairs, Patton. And I’m sure whatever you prepare will be adequate, see you then.” Logan called out as Patton turned the corner going down the stairs. He sighed to himself as he climbed the last few flights to his floor and entered apartment 4A. What had he gotten himself into?

Now, not only would he be interacting with multiple humans at once, he would also be expected to _eat_. He had never eaten before, not even in practice. He knew humans needed to do it to survive, but the thought of taking something and having to mash it into little slimy bits in his mouth, then swallow it? Not to mention, his experience with eating would be different than a normal human’s because he had to manually clean up whatever ended up in his false stomach tonight, and the experience couldn’t be made more enjoyable because he was pretty sure he didn’t have a sense of taste as of yet.

Wait, was he getting worked up? Is this what performance anxiety felt like? Regular lying was fine, but this felt like an entirely different ordeal. Snap out of it Logan! He was an android, he didn’t have feelings. So stop acting illogically and prepare for the dinner. He would get through it, further integrate and adapt to human customs, and survive. This was fine. Everything is fine.

Realizing he had just been standing in the entrance of his apartment while leaning against the closed door, Logan walked further into his apartment. This shouldn’t be bothering him. He was a highly advanced, incredibly valuable, and state of the art espionage machine, so something so trivial shouldn’t be bothering him. However, it was bothering him, and he couldn’t seem to get it to stop. So...he was a state of the art, highly advanced, incredibly valuable espionage machine, how could he change the situation so it was less bothersome to him so he could be at his optimum level of performance?

Well, the problem was his concern over the sensation of eating, and that it will be uncomfortable or disturbing to him. He would have to eat regardless, because he could not see a way out of that situation without being incredibly rude. So if he had to do it regardless, how could he make the instance more enjoyable, or at least bearable, to himself? The obvious answer would be to _taste_ the food so he would at least get the same level of enjoyment out of it that the humans did, but that was unrealistic.

...Or was it?

Logan suddenly got an idea, and walked into the bathroom where he knew there was a mirror. Then he rolled up the sleeve on his left arm and peeled back some of the false skin again. Unlike his right arm that had a combination printer and data transferrer for forging necessary documentation and identification, his left arm had some minor tools and resources meant for repairs, as well as access to his wiring when feature updates and small performance tweaks needed to be done. Logan also rolled up his pant leg and opened the panel where his extension cord was, pulling it out and plugging it into the outlet by the sink so he would have a constant supply of power while he did this, should he accidentally make a mistake.

Then Logan reached with two fingers under his jawline and pressed three very particular spots while grasping one of the tools from his left arm, something slender and metal, and lightly pressing it to his temple. The next thing that occurred was a slight hissing noise of pressure being released as his jaw slowly popped open, causing as widening gap between the flesh of his lower face and upper face, revealing, besides his false teeth and cheeks and tongue, a mass of wiring and blinking lights now visible below the line of his top lip. Now with ample room, he slowly reached behind his jaw and grasped an exposed wire connected to his tongue, then reaching up with his tool, gently disconnecting it. He then lowered it to the wiring exposed on his left arm, and inserted it in a place where coding and tweaking that particular piece of hardware would be easier. Taste was simply the body analyzing different chemical compounds, something Logan could do via data analysis anyway, so changing some of his coding to associate a physical sensation along with that wasn’t too far of a reach, at least by his standards. Logan checked the time. Seven hours, seven hours until the dinner party. He would have to be quick, but it was doable. He’d better get to work. 

* * *

At 4:48 P.M., Logan was finishing putting all of his parts back into place. His tongue felt strange and a little tingly, but he still didn’t know for sure if his tinkering had worked. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, sticking out his tongue and rolling it into a tube like a child might. Everything seemed to be functional and his motor skills seemed to be fine. He unplugged himself from the outlet, actually feeling somewhat rejuvenated from the extra power, and rolled down his pant leg. He assumed what he was wearing would be fine for the dinner, he would just brush some of the wrinkles out of his shirt sleeves and pants. He hoped tonight would go well, and even if his attempt to give himself the ability to taste did not work, it alleviated most of his anxieties and gave him something to do while he waited for the inevitable.

Looking over himself in the mirror one last time, he decided he looked suitable for however this dinner went. Checking the time, he had about 3 minutes until five o’clock, so it would be wise to head over to apartment 4C already. 

* * *

Logan crossed the hall to Patton’s apartment and knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!” He heard from inside. He only had to wait a moment before the door was flung open and Patton was there grinning brightly up at him.

“Logan, you came! I’m so glad you made it. Virgil and Roman will be here in a sec, I haven’t told them it was you who was coming, only that we were entertaining a guest. They’re going to be so surprised! Come in! Come in!” Patton rambled off as he ushered Logan inside.

The walls of Patton’s apartment were a pleasant shade of light blue, though they could hardly be seen through the litany of photographs and crayon pictures both framed and taped to them. Apartment 4C was larger than 4A and had a small kitchen area that was visible from every angle of the main foyer. It had bar-style seating that separated it from the rest of the apartment and helped cement it in people’s minds as a separate space. The kitchen seemed well stocked for an apartment of its size, even if it was slightly larger than Logan’s, because it had an oven and stove-top combo, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, a toaster, and a countertop microwave. On the counter tops were several covered dishes wafting food-smells from underneath glass containers and aluminum foil, and in the sink were several gray, cat-themed silicone utensils covered in food stains—presumably what Patton had used to cook tonight’s dinner with.

Across from the kitchen area there was an L-shaped couch with the shorter side pushed against a wall and facing a small coffee table and T.V., both of which looked second hand but attributed to the cozy atmosphere. Next to the T.V. was a shelf stocked with DVD cases holding a variety of different shows and movies. And behind the couch and diagonal from the kitchen there was a round dining table already set out with plates, napkins, and silverware arranged in line with the four chairs about the table. And behind the table on the wall were two closed doors. One Logan assumed lead to the bedroom, and the other he assumed lead to the bathroom. Overall, it was a very friendly-looking, if a bit crowded, apartment.

“Welcome to my home! Make yourself comfortable, or should I say _at home_ , wink,” _Did he seriously just say ‘wink’ out loud?_ “And feel free to look at whatever you like! Me casa es su casa.” Patton said with an excited gesture, as if to point at the entire apartment.

“Thank you Patton, that is much appreciated. However, it does seem strange that you want me to ‘make myself at home’ when your home does not have adequate resources to make one such as me.” Patton stared at Logan for a second and blinked before his face split into a delighted grin.

“Oh my goodness Logan! You didn’t tell me you liked dad jokes?” he said with a half laugh.

“What? That wasn’t a joke, and I would hardly make a ‘dad joke’, as you called it, intentionally. I was simply bringing up the impracticality of trying to collect and then assemble all the components that make up my body in your apartment.” Perhaps if he conveyed a confused look his point would be understood. Patton held his mouth and tried to keep himself from snickering.

“Oh yeah, that would mean bringing a whole bunch of body parts here, but you don’t need me to ex- _spleen_ it to you, get it?” Logan sighed deeply. _Oh_.

“What, you didn’t find that _humerus_?”

“Humorous? Oh goodness, do you mean the arm bone connected to the radius and ulna?”

“Sorry, am I getting _ulna_ nerves? You might want to say ‘are ya _kidney_ -ing me’. Ha ha!” Logan brought his hand up to his face and rubbed underneath his glasses.

“In fact Patton, the temptation right now is very strong to exclaim ‘are you kidding me’, but it’s fine. I would just prefer we kept the puns to a minimum, thank you.”

“Aw, sorry for teasing, Logan, but I start punning and I can’t stop punning, I was fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.” He laughed at the look Logan gave him before looking down more bashfully and slightly embarrassed, “But, uh, I’ll stop now. I do want to be a good host after all!” Logan adjusted his body language to express relief so his gratitude would be understood.

“I appreciate your considerate nature Patton, and thank you again for hosting me.”

“Aw, you’re welcome. Now you can sit down while I set the food out, Virgil and Roman should be here any second.” Patton said while grabbing a couple of the covered trays. “Roman likes to take his time getting ready and show up ‘fashionably late’, but Virgil is always anxious to be early, so with the two of them scrambling to get ready at a combined pace, they show up more or less on time.”

Logan pulled out a chair while he was listening and took a seat at the dining table.

“That’s very interesting, Patton.”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

“Oh, that’ll be them now! Just a second guys!” Patton shouted as he put down the dishes he was holding on the table. He brushed off his hands on his pants and went to open the door.

Patton opened the door just enough for his head to poke through so that neither side could see beyond the doorway before speaking.

“Hey guys! So glad you showed up!”

“You know we wouldn’t miss your dinners for the world, Padre!” A dramatic voice proclaimed.

“Yeah, if Cinderella here didn’t spend so much time getting spend so much time getting ready.” A snide voice replied.

“Well if I _had_ a fairy godmother, it wouldn’t take so long would it? We can’t all just ‘poof’ and look beautiful, it takes work to look this good!”

Patton interjected, “Kiddos, come on now. The important thing is that you’re here and we’re going to have a lovely dinner. And don’t forget! We have a guest! I think you’re really gonna be surprised.”

“Uh, yeah Pat, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. You know I’m not the best with meeting new people,” the softer voice said.

“Hey, it’s okay Virge, our guest has told me he doesn’t have the best people skills either, so I think you two will get along just fine.” Patton replied with a sympathetic smile. “Now it’s time to introduce all of you! Oh I’m so excited!”

With that Patton opened the door fully to let in the other two residents on the fourth floor, at the same time revealing Logan to be their mystery guest.

“Roman and Virgil meet—”

“It’s you!” the man wearing a white leather jacket and red T-shirt said, while the man with dyed purple hair just stared wide-eyed, looking at Logan with a shocked expression. Logan stood up from his chair and walked toward the doorway.

“Hello, I am Logan, it’s nice to meet you.” He was nothing if not one for decorum.

“You’re the nerd who saved Patton yesterday!” the one he assumed to be Roman said delightedly before he was sharply elbowed in the side by the one he assumed was Virgil.

“Ow! Hey! What was that for?”

Virgil glared at Roman for a second before addressing Logan, “Would you excuse us for a second?” and without waiting for a reply, he dragged Roman into the hallway.

Patton laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Sorry about that…”

“It’s quite alright Patton.”

As Logan said that, he turned up his sound sensitivity so he could hear what the other two were whispering in the hallway. He heard Roman speak first.

“What the heck, Dark and Gloomy? What was that for?”

“You dumbass, you saw what this guy did yesterday. He could beat the hell out of you! Not saying that he would but-. And the first thing you do to the guy who saved Pat is insult him!? He could fold you like a lawn chair, _God_ you’re an idiot.” Virgil hissed under his breath. Roman made an offended scoffing sound.

“ _Hey!_ I- well, I- Ugh! I am _not_ an idiot. He caught me by surprise! You have to admit he _does_ look like a nerd though, just a bit?” There was another noise of Roman being elbowed in the gut. “Oof! Would you quit that?!”

“Maybe when you don’t try to piss off the guy who took down someone _waving a knife in Patton’s face_?” Virgil said, pushing the last words through his teeth. It was quiet for a moment before Roman spoke up again.

“...It was really amazing how he took that guy down. Gah! I wish I could have been of more use yesterday. He was just so swift and composed, I was shocked silent--which is a first for me!”

“You can say that again.”

“ _Anyway_ , the point is I _am_ grateful he saved our little ball of sunshine in there. I just didn’t know what to say.”

“Well you can _start_ by apologising and then...I don’t know, tell him how impressed you were with him or something. Look, I’m about as emotionally constipated as you are, so I’m not really great at advice on this.”

“Ugh! I will have you know I am _great_ at expressing my emotions, I am an Actor after all.” Virgil sighed upon hearing this.

“Whatever, let’s just go back in there, and _be nice_ , okay?” there was a rasp to his voice that made his suggestion more akin to a threat.

With that the door opened back up, Virgil being the first to speak.

“Sorry about this idiot, won’t happen again.” Roman shot Virgil a glare before speaking up and addressing Logan.

“My sincerest apologies, Logan, was it? I regret my rude behavior in calling you a nerd, (even though you kinda look like one), and would like to introduce myself. I am the one, the only, Roman Prince, at your service,” he said with a deep bow and a wink while Virgil facepalmed, “I hope you humbly accept my gratitude for saving our dearest Patton, without you he would surely be lost to us yet. Truly, your combat skills are unmatched, and you showed great valor and poise. It is an honor to be in your presence.” he finished with a dramatic flourish and a tinge of pride in his voice from his performance. Logan didn’t even need to run any scans on Roman’s vitals to tell he was being overly dramatic, no spike in heart rate could top that. Still, a first impression was a first impression, so he extended his hand to shake as a greeting.

“...You’re welcome...It’s nice to meet you. As I said previously, my name is Logan Smith, and I am the new resident of apartment 4A.” Logan spoke as he and Roman grasped hands and he gave a firm shake. However, at this point Virgil spoke up.

“Woah wait, you’re gonna be _living_ here? On the same floor as us? Right next to _me_?” Virgil looked a little shaken for a moment.

“Yes..? Is there a problem? I’m not following.” Logan could tell he seemed on edge but he couldn’t tell why.

“No..It’s cool…” Virgil replied as the tiniest bit of blush crept on his face in embarrassment. Patton piped up.

“Don’t worry about it too much Logan, Virgil just takes time adjusting to change.” he glanced at Virgil as he spoke and gave him a sympathetic look. Virgil looked off to the side, cheeks growing even darker with blush.

“Yeah! Charlie Frown over here just doesn’t realise how frickin’ cool it’ll be to live next to a personal bodyguard, _though_ ,” Roman interjected, “he _does_ already have a knight in shining armor protecting him from harm’s way (me of course), but I _suppose_ I could learn a thing or two from Mister Jedi Master over here, what with the stunt you pulled yesterday.” Logan gave Roman a confused look.

“Bodyguard? My knowledge of self defense does not make me a bodyguard. But, I suppose I could teach you how I performed that maneuver yesterday at some point, as long as it didn’t harm anything.” Logan conceded with some trepidation, at the possible offer of spending more time with them, which was a risky move. And based on the shocked but delighted look on Roman’s face, apparently offering to teach self defence, in any small way, was the wrong move if he didn’t want more interaction.

“Also, why would Virgil even need a bodyguard? He seems perfectly capable of taking care of himself.” Logan decided to shift the topic back onto the other, much to Virgil’s chagrin if the spike in adrenaline was any indicator.

“...Can we please sit down and eat? I’m kinda hungry.” Virgil pulled up the hood of his patched hoodie and buried his face in it, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Though Logan could see his face growing dark from embarrassment underneath the hood.

“Oh yeah guys! I made lasagna, with a little surprise for dessert, you’re going to love it!” Patton said, coming to Virgil’s rescue.

“Ooo! I _love_ lasagna! You know just what to make Padre!” Roman exclaimed as he pulled out a chair and sat down at the dining table, Logan and Virgil soon following suit.

Patton leaned over the table where he sat down the dish earlier and removed the aluminum foil he had placed over the top. A burst of smell escaped its confinement and filled the apartment, steam coming off the cheese and sauce in whispy ribbons. He cut the meal into squares and put a piece on each of the four plates at the table.

Roman immediately began digging in despite Patton’s warning that it was hot, and as anticipated, he soon began fanning his mouth and saying, “Ah!hothothot!”, then ran over to the sink and filled a glass with water before downing it in a few gulps. Virgil smacked his hand into his face while saying “idiot”, but nonetheless could still be seen smiling under his hood at Roman’s shenanigans.

Logan picked up his fork and twirled it between his fingers for a second, a bit apprehensively, before plunging it into the corner of the lasagna, tearing a bit off of the stubborn pasta and cheese. Then, as naturally as he could muster, while everyone else was distracted and giggling about Roman’s mishap, he slipped the piece of food into his mouth, pulling back the fork clean.

The first thing he noted was the temperature, the lasagna being approximately 151*F, indeed a little too hot for comfort on the human tongue. He felt Roman should have been more cautious. The next thing was the texture, the cheese being stringy and slightly chewy, while the sauce was liquidy and a little chunky from the tomatoes, and finally the pasta was soft and a little stubbornly chewy. Logan felt apathetic to these textures, more focused on how thoroughly he was going to have to clean his mouth from the red sauce now coating his insides. Finally after a tingling sensation on his tongue that felt similar to numbing mouthwash, he experienced the taste.

It...was far more underwhelming than he expected. It didn’t taste bad, but he just didn’t experience a particularly strong way one way or the other. It tasted like food. Like the chemical compositions that made up cheese and sauce and pasta. Though it could be said that it was a miracle that he was able to experience taste at all, he did feel a bit proud of himself for that.

This analysis happened in a matter of seconds after taking his first bite and he chose to release a gentle ‘hmm’ to indicate to Patton he was enjoying the meal. It was polite after all.

A comfortable chatter started to buzz around the table as the other three settled into eating their meals. As Logan continued to take small bites, he noticed the three had a distinct chemistry. He wasn’t sure how this sentiment could be expressed except for the idea that they played off one another well. Each had something that added to the interactions of the others, and Logan found himself occasionally weighing in on the conversation whenever he was addressed, feeling like he added to that chemistry. The atmosphere began to loosen some and he could tell they were becoming less tense, Virgil especially. It seemed the more he talked and interacted with him at the table, the less awkward he seemed when addressing the others, even Logan.

Eventually, over the clatter of forks and light chewing, the conversation topic cycled onto himself.

“So, Logan,” Patton said with a soft cheesy grin, propping his face up with one arm, “tell us about yourself.” Logan cocked an eyebrow.

“What would you like to know?”

Roman cut in, “What brings you to Cardinal Valley? It’s not exactly a well-known locale.”

“Yeah, it’s basically No-where City, nothing happens here.” Virgil added, eyeing Logan a bit suspiciously now that he considered it.

“I disagree, it is far more populated than where I used to live.”

“Where did you used to live?” Patton asked, curious.

“The middle of nowhere.” Logan deadpanned.

“Ha ha, we made that joke already, Courage the Cowardly Dog.” Roman snided. Logan rolled his eyes.

“I don’t make jokes. I lived out in the woods, south of here.”

“Wow, all alone?” Patton said with sympathy in his eyes.

“That sounds like a crazy horror cabin scenario to me,” said Virgil, stabbing the remainder of his lasagna with his fork, “kinda metal though.”

“No, I didn’t live alone, it used to be my...parent’s house, I...don’t interact with them anymore,” Logan said, looking down and fiddling with his fork.

“Oh, I’m sorry kiddo, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories,” Patton said with a frown and reached for Logan’s hand to console him, patting it gently where it rested on the table.

“That’s quite alright Patton, you didn’t mean to. And the past is the past, it does little good to dwell on it.”

“Oh, right.” Patton finished lamely, looking down. There was a bit of an awkward lull in the conversation before Roman perked up.

“Hey, Padre, you said there was something special after lasagna?”

“Oh yeah, kiddo, how silly of me, I almost forgot. Now who’s ready for dessert?” Patton asked cheerfully, getting up from the table. There was a general consensus of agreement as Roman and Virgil said various “I am’s” excitedly while Logan just nodded slightly.

Patton went behind the kitchen area and opened the freezer, pulling out a large sealed container. Roman gasped before exclaiming, “Patton, does this mean what I think it means?”

Patton gave a singular nod at him before Roman squealed excitedly and bolted to the door. Logan gave a dumbfounded look to Patton and Virgil, confused as to what was going on. To his surprise, even Virgil was giving a mischievous smirk, flicking his eyes to the doorway that Roman left swung open and listening to the jostling and rustling that could be heard next door from Roman’s apartment. As this was happening Patton was unscrewing the lid of the container to reveal a tub full of ice cream.

“Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream! Bone-Apple-Teeth kiddos!” Roman then rushed back into the room at that moment.

“Got it!” he said panting, a little out of breath, holding up a small jar.

“You know what to do Ro!” Roman grinned, popping off the lid of the jar and sticking it in the microwave. None of this cleared up Logan’s confusion in any way whatsoever.

Patton pulled out a clean ice cream scoop and some bowls before delicately scooping out a portion for everyone. Meanwhile the microwave beeped signifying whatever was in the jar was done being heated. Roman pulled the jar out, then, taking a spoon, doled out generous helpings of what looked like liquefied, warm, strawberry jelly on top of each scoop.

“Crofter’s, the _berry_ best jelly around!” Roman declared.

“Yeah, it’s my jam.” Virgil chimed in.

Logan groaned at the apparently infectious use of puns, but he had to admit that he was intrigued about all the fuss. Roman and Patton helped pass out the bowls and handed Virgil and Logan spoons to enjoy their ice cream with.

“Have you ever had Crofter’s jelly before Logan?” Roman asked.

“I don’t believe I have.” Before tonight he had never had any food in general, but he wasn’t going to mention that.

“Well you are going to _love_ it. I convinced Patton and Virgil to try it a few years back, and now it’s our thing to basically top every dessert with it any time we all have dinner together.”

Logan was skeptical about his potential ‘love’ for this fruit spread product given how disappointing the lasagna experience was, but again, politeness. And, at the very least, he was curious.

“Alright kiddos, dig in!” Patton announced, plunging his spoon into the ice cream and taking a bite, humming in pleasure when he pulled the spoon from his lips. Roman and Virgil followed suit, though Virgil was much quieter when eating than Roman, who kept making ‘Mmmm’ sounds a bit obnoxiously.

Logan spun his spoon between a couple of fingers before dipping it into the ice cream and jelly. _Well, it can’t be any more disappointing than the lasagna_ he thought.

He brought the spoon up to his lips, placing it in his mouth and...and...it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. His eyes went wide in shock as the sweet chemicals washed over his now sensitized tongue. It was...it was...invigorating. He began taking more spoonfuls and putting them in his mouth. Who knew jelly could be so good?

Logan didn’t notice the others were staring at him. Patton was covering his mouth trying to keep himself from giggling, while Roman had a proud look about himself and kept glancing between Virgil and Patton while he ate. Virgil on the other hand kept looking down and pursing his lip to keep himself from smiling.

Logan didn’t look up until his spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl and the last of the ice cream and jelly was in his mouth. He sucked off the remainder of the jelly from the spoon and smacked his lips, only then realizing he was being watched.

Oh no, his lips were sticky and covered in jelly and vanilla ice cream, and there was some dribbling down his chin. He didn’t have any blood to cause a blush, but he did feel his face begin the heat. He put down the spoon and covered his mouth with his hand to hide the mess.

The three others were grinning at him with varying degrees of humor.

“Wow Specs, you had been kind of stiff all night, who knew you just needed some Crofter’s to loosen you up?”

Logan averted his gaze from Roman, instead choosing to stare at the woodgrain on the table.

“I apologise, that was berry- I mean _very_ unprofessional of me.” What was wrong with him? Did the sugar cross some wires or something?

Patton gasped delightedly.

“Oh my goodness Logan, you punned! You did an almost-on-purpose dad joke!”

Logan felt like disconnecting his head from his body and burying it under a pile of rubble, but he settled for taking his napkin and wiping his mouth clean from the food stains.

“I did _not_ pun, not on purpose, so it doesn’t count.”

“Oh, I think it counts,” Roman said.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Logan cut him off, “you were right Roman, that fruit spread was enjoyable. ...More so than I expected, apparently. I might go so far as to say it was the best thing I have ever tasted, which would not be an exaggeration.”

Roman looked as if he had just gotten praise from Gordon Ramsey himself, before getting a slight jab in the arm from Virgil’s elbow.

“Don’t look so surprised Princey, everyone loves that stuff.”

Roman made an offended noise.

“ _Well_ , it was still a good idea on my part, and Logan seems to like it so I say that was a 100% success.” He stuck out his tongue to Virgil, and in response Virgil flicked him on the forehead.

“Ow! Hey! Have at ye, foul fiend!” Roman yelped as he grabbed his spoon and started making sword fighting gestures at Virgil, who grabbed his spoon as well, a smirk creeping onto his face.

“You’re on.” before inevitably,

“ _Kiddos_ ,” Patton said giving them a look, “we do not fight at the dinner table, it’s rude!” Roman crossed his arms, muttering under his breath something that sounded suspiciously like ‘whatever dad’, before he and Virgil sheepishly put down their spoons. Logan spoke up.

“Well, Patton this dinner has been lovely. Thank you for having me. And you two,” he addressed Roman and Virgil, “It was wonderful to meet you officially, thank you for trying to make me feel welcome.”

“Woah, leaving so soon Specs?” Roman said. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“We live on the same floor as him now, we’ll probably see him all the time.”

Patton beamed at the compliment he’d been given and piped up,

“Aw, thanks Logan. I love getting to know new people, and I sure do hope I’ll be seeing more of you soon.”

“You will Patton. Before we ran into one another earlier, I had just gotten back from my interview with Dr. Picani, and he said I’d been accepted into the vacant position.”

“You got the job?!” Patton squealed excitedly, “That’s awesome Logan! That means we get to work together!” He jumped up and hugged Logan, who stiffened, but softly pat his now co-worker’s arm in gratitude.

“Congratulations man,” Virgil said, waving a small salute.

“Erm, yes, I got the job. I assume you’ll figuratively ‘show me the ropes’ (if that’s the correct phrase) on my first day?”

“‘Course Logan, anything! Just ask,” Patton answered with a smile, releasing Logan from their hug.

“I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer Patton,” he said looking him in the eye, before turning to all three of them.

“Farewell, I will see you all again soon.” Logan said, walking up to the door and opening it before turning slightly to administer a brief wave. Patton and Virgil waved back, Patton very enthusiastically. Roman, meanwhile, gave a deep bow as Logan opened the door and replied, “‘Till we meet again,” with a wink.

Logan rolled his eyes, smiling slightly, and closed the door, walking over to his apartment. He had a lot of cleaning to do on his insides, which would not be fun, _but_ , he had to admit, the night had not been awful. It was actually pleasant, if somewhat entertaining. Logan was looking forward to recharging, though. It had been a long day. However, he was reassured by the fact that he might actually come to like his new neighbors after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback and comments are welcome! I have a general outline for how I want things to go in the next chapter, but if you have any suggestions or questions about something that might be cool to add, feel free to say something! Thank you!


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